Drunk Halt
by Bralt
Summary: Halt is drunk and Pauline has to deal with the side effects. But is alcohol the only thing making him act up? Please review
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice or any of its characters**

Drunk Halt

Halt stumbled through the apartment door. He was grinning like a fool and seemed to act like he was the ruler of the world. Pauline looked at him concerned, he never smiled. At least not like this. He slumped down in a nearby chair and she walked over to him. He looked up at her and smiled even broader if it was possible.

"Halt?" She started in a worried tone. He didn't seem to register the tone of her voice. "What's the matter?"

"Nothin' madam," He said in a slurred way. Immediately she knew he was a little tipsy.

"What happened while you were out?" She said in a stern voice. She knew that Halt wouldn't willingly get drunk unless he had been provoked or challenged.

"I got a little thirsty." Halt's words were said with careful precision. He knew something was wrong but his mind was too happy to care. He gazed up at her with glee filled eyes. The sight was truly unnerving.

"And what, may I ask, did you drink to quench your thirst?" She pulled her hand away as he tried to hold it. He looked a little confused at the action. "Well, what did you drink?"

Halt burst into laughter. He recovered after a few minutes and looked up at her with tears in his eyes. But they were tears of joy. "You said well. Well sounds like Will and Will was my apprentice. He was funny." Halt spoke like he truly found that funny.

"Halt! Snap out of it!" She slapped his face lightly a few times. She hated when people got drunk. Their minds got scrambled and it was like talking to a child. "Why did you get drunk in the first place?" She continued to slap him. He just looked at her and started giggling.

"My dear, I swear to drunk that I am not Gorlog." He looked at her seriously for all of five seconds before smiling again. She stopped slapping him and sighed. This wasn't going good.

"Oh my gosh, Halt! You never get drunk what happened?" She put her hands on her hips and looked at her child-like husband with her glare. Normally he would have shrunk back and complied to tell her but instead he just laughed again. "Tell me what happened." She continued to stay in her pose.

"I met a friend in town and they made me go to the pub with them." Halt stood and took a step towards Pauline with a big grin on. "You're pretty." He tilted his head and spoke as if he had just realized this.

"And who might this friend be?" She knew Halt was faithful to her but he had many 'friends' and most wanted to see him dead. It wouldn't be below their level to spike his drink.

"I believe his name was Berek?" Halt had a thoughtful face as he tried to recall what had happened. "He said I couldn't match him drink for drink." Halt spoke in his slurred way again. He started smiling again.

"Do you mean Erak?" Halt nodded. Pauline sighed. You never try to match a Skandian beer for beer. It was near impossible to beat them. "Snap out of it!" Pauline yelled in an agitated voice.

Halt's eyes fluttered for a moment. "You're pretty when you yell." His face was still in his smile and it made her feel weird to see it, it wasn't genuine. It was a fake smile just like his actions were fake. They were all effects of the alcohol.

"Halt!" She could smell the alcohol on his breath and it made her nauseous.

He tilted his head the other way. It was beginning to get creepy. She took a deep breath and decided on a course of action. Maybe it would work but maybe it wouldn't. She took another breath. It was worth a try. She raised her hand and with the force of all her annoyance, she slapped him across the face. He stumbled backwards with his hand covering the place where she had slapped him. A light seemed to break through in his eyes. Maybe she shouldn't have done that. But the light didn't seem to spark anger, it seemed to spark sorrow. He started to openly cry.

"Calm down Halt." She walked over to where he had fallen down on the floor and patted his back in a soothing manner. A drunken Halt was turning out to be more of a challenge then an angry one. "I'm sorry." She took his hand away from his face and saw the bright red mark where her hand had made contact.

"You hate me!" He wailed. "You hit me because you hate me!" He looked at her through blurry eyes and immediately stopped crying. Instead he started yelling. "Help! Help! The Temujai!"

Pauline sighed. Now Halt was hallucinating. She knew her husband couldn't cope well with drinks but she had never witnessed it and something told her that it wasn't just the drink making him act like this. She didn't think Erak would spike his drink but you never knew. But it didn't matter at the moment; right now Halt had gotten up and was peering around the chair like he was hiding behind a tree. She looked at him hopelessly and he zipped back behind the chair.

**Remeber to review and I'll review one of your stories. Sorry if it takes a day or so, my email isn't working**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice or any of its characters**

"Abelard, come here. The crazy Temujai just saw me." Pauline heard the whisper and sighed. This was going to be far from good. What would happen if Halt tried to mount his invisible Abelard?

"Halt. I'm not a Temujai. I swear." She rolled her eyes as she saw him stiffen behind the chair. "Come on out. I won't hurt you." She tried with every fiber of her being to keep her tone neutral.

"Liar!" His voice seemed to spike.

"You know what? I'm going to find Erak. He did this so he should suffer." Pauline turned and strode towards the door.

"You better run!" Halt's head poked above the chair. Pauline whipped around and he immediately shrunk back down. She shook her head in exasperation and left.

She walked out of the castle and stopped at the end of the drawbridge. She looked down at the village. The drunken Skandian could be anywhere down there, he was on a vacation type thing and he was free to go wherever, whenever. She sighed; maybe he'd still be in the pub. She started her walk.

On the way there, she thought of how her husband was acting. He could never handle his alcohol but this was different, something had been added to his drink. She cursed Erak under her breath using some words that Halt would have considered nasty. She continued on the road to the pub waving and smiling to the few she saw. She walked through the middle of the town and stopped at a low building with smoke belching out of its chimney.

She opened the door and walked in. The room had a decent amount of occupants, most Skandians. They were all sitting at a large table that had been arranged in the middle of the room. Most seemed more than a little tipsy but Erak seemed to have some sense about him. He was laughing and kidding like the rest only he was sitting straighter and his words were more understandable. Coming to the point that he was sober enough to talk to, Pauline approached him with as much authority as she could.

"Erak!" The overgrown man turned his head towards her and smiled.

"Well if it isn't you. You know your little bundle of anger came by earlier?" Erak was acting like his jolly self only Pauline couldn't decide if the drinks had anything to do with his attitude.

"I know all too well." She looked at Erak with a stern face.

"Something wrong?" Erak asked innocently. The other members of his crew hadn't noticed Pauline yet but it was only a matter of time.

"Yes as a matter of fact, something is wrong. What did you put in Halt's drink?" She noticed the slight shift of his posture.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He mumbled.

"Oh but you do." He shifted again. "I repeat, what did you put in the drink?" She crossed her arms across her chest and waited for an answer.

"Just a little thing to make him in more of a good mood." Erak let his gaze drift away from her angry features.

"Oh well you got him in a mood all right. Right now he's up in our apartment thinking I'm a Temujai warrior and he's on the run." She glared at him and waited until he looked back into her eyes. "And you are going to be the one who stays with him through it." Erak's eyes bulged.

"He might think I'm a Temujai!" Pauline nodded. "Do you know what he does to the Temujai? He makes them drop with so many arrows that they look like porcupines!" Pauline nodded again.

"Have fun with that. Now get moving." She turned on her heel and walked towards the door. She turned and looked back to see Erak sitting with eyes the size of saucers. "Well, we don't have all night."

**Please review and I'll review one of your stories**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice or any of its characters**

Erak walked into the apartment carefully. Pauline had left him and went to the cabin to spend the night. Erak cast around a cautious glance. The apartment seemed peaceful enough but he knew from experience that if a Ranger didn't want to be seen, he wasn't going to be seen. And he assumed that went for happy drunk Rangers.

"Halt?" He called out carefully.

He looked around again. Nothing. Feeling safer, he stood taller and walked over to a chair and sat down. Then he heard a noise like a blade being drawn. It wasn't anything loud and it was so soft that when nothing immediately happened, he began to laugh at himself for being paranoid. He leaned back in the chair smiling. There was nothing to worry about. Then he felt something behind him. He slowly turned and found a cloaked figure with a sharp knife. Erak gulped, this wasn't too good.

"Where's your partner?" Halt said in a menacing voice. Erak looked at him with a blank stare. "I know you have a partner you stupid Temujai! She was here earlier." Halt waved the blade under Erak's nose making Erak draw his eyes together in a comical way.

"Sh…She's gone." Erak looked back up at Halt and cursed himself for trying to make the man in more of a good mood. "So, you're going to let me go right?" Halt's smile was more of a wolf's way of showing its prey that their time was up.

"And why would I do that?" Halt tilted his head and twirled the knife in his hand.

"Well, don't you think Arald might like to see me?" Erak was starting to worry. He had no idea how long the drug was going to last and Halt was seriously messed up.

Halt considered for a moment. "Okay then, let's get going." Erak went to stand. "Wait." Erak sat back down in his seat.

Halt went around the apartment and grabbed a rope and what looked to be an old sock. He came back to Erak and tied his arms behind the back of the chair then proceeded to tie his ankles to the chair legs. Halt straightened and stuffed the sock in Erak's mouth to act as a gag. In Halt's fuddled mind, Erak would be able to climb stairs and move in the state he was in.

"Let's get going you waste of space." Halt grabbed his longbow and started walking towards the door. When he didn't hear Erak pursuing him he turned around. "Get going!" Halt yelled at him.

"Mmph." Erak looked at Halt and shrugged as best as he could.

"You lazy sack of bones!" Halt walked over to Erak and tried to drag the chair. Even though Halt was a strong little guy, he couldn't drag a fully grown Skandian. Halt stopped trying and stepped back with his chest heaving. "Fine then. I'll have to bring him to you."

Halt turned and left the apartment. Erak yelled a few times but all that came out was muffled sounds, he stopped resisting and settled back into the seat. Maybe Halt would come back with Arald and he would be let loose but then again, Halt wasn't in the right mind right now.

**Remember to review and I'll review one of your stories :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice or any of its characters**

Halt made his way out of the apartment and started for Arald's study. He stuck to the shadows and kept his knife drawn as if he was going to be attacked at any moment. He was halfway to the study when he slipped up. He slammed himself up against the wall as a servant walked by but in the process he got the edge of his cloak stuck under his boot. The servant passed and he tried to move but the cloak tripped him up. He fell towards the ground and smacked his head against the wall.

Halt stood up groggily and rubbed his head where he had hit it. The hit from the wall had caused him to come out of his stupor caused by the drug but he couldn't remember anything that had happened the past few hours. He continued to rub his head and glanced around the hall. It was empty except for him and a servant that was walking by him. Halt stuck out an arm and stopped the man.

"What time is it?" Halt asked. The servant looked at him wide-eyed. "Well?" The servant jumped a little.

"A few hours after dark sir." Halt nodded.

"And…" Halt lowered his hand from his head. "Do you know why I'm here?"

"Umm…no idea," He said confused. "Am I supposed to?"

"No." Halt lowered his other arm allowing the servant to continue on his way.

Halt started back to his apartment trying to remember what had happened in the past few hours. The last thing he remembered was being challenged by Erak to match him drink for drink. _Did I actually do that?_ He thought to himself. He shook his head to dispel the uneasiness he felt at not being able to remember. He opened the door to his apartment hoping that Pauline might have some answers for him. What he didn't expect to see when he opened the door was Erak bound to a chair.

"Where's Arald?" Erak asked as he spit out what seemed to be a sock.

Halt looked at him in a weird fashion. "I believe he's in his study."

"Weren't you bringing him back?" Erak looked more confused than Halt.

"No, Erak, I wasn't planning on disturbing him." Halt shook his head in annoyance. "Why are you in my apartment?"

"You tied me up! You thought I was a Temujai warrior. And you thought Pauline was also." Erak's eyes followed Halt as he walked towards the bedroom door.

"That's ridiculous. You look nothing like a Temujai. I'm going to sleep." Halt walked into the bedroom,

"Aren't you going to let me go?" Erak yelled at the closed door.

"No." Halt called back.

Erak sighed. This was going to be a long night. As he sat there and fought with his bonds, he did something he never thought he'd do. He cursed the precious drink that he treasured.

**Please review and I'll review one of your stories**


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